Body weight of individuals with obesity decreases after a 6-month high pasta or low pasta Mediterranean diet weight-loss intervention.

Background & Aims: The effect of pasta consumption within a low-energy Mediterranean diet on body weight regulation has been scarcely explored. This paper investigates the effect of two Mediterranean diets, which differed for lower or higher pasta intake, on body weight change in individuals with obesity.

Methods & Results: Forty-nine volunteers finished a quasi-experimental 6-month two-parallel group dietary intervention.

Pasta Consumption and Connected Dietary Habits: Associations with Glucose Control, Adiposity Measures, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in People with Type 2 Diabetes-TOSCA.IT Study.

Background: Pasta is a refined carbohydrate with a low glycemic index. Whether pasta shares the metabolic advantages of other low glycemic index foods has not really been investigated. The aim of this study is to document, in people with type-2 diabetes, the consumption of pasta, the connected dietary habits, and the association with glucose control, measures of adiposity, and major cardiovascular risk factors.

Is there a correlation between thyroiditis and thyroid cancer?

Background: In the past few decades, the incidence of thyroid cancer has increased significantly all over the world. In the same period, there also seems to have been an increase in the incidence of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis-the most common inflammatory autoimmune thyroid disease. Several studies have linked thyroiditis to thyroid cancer.

Nature and Cognitive Perception of 4 Different Breakfast Meals Influence Satiety-Related Sensations and Postprandial Metabolic Responses but Have Little Effect on Food Choices and Intake Later in the Day in a Randomized Crossover Trial in Healthy Men.

Background: Regular breakfast consumption is associated with better health status and healthier food intake throughout the day, but this association is a complex interaction of several factors.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of nutritional and cognitive-perceived characteristics of breakfast on metabolic and behavioral variables related to food intake.

Methods: The study was a randomized, crossover, controlled trial, with 4 experimental conditions consisting of 3 iso-energetic breakfasts and 1 energy-free control meal.

ALLiance for sEcondary PREvention after an acute coronary syndrome. The ALLEPRE trial: A multicenter fully nurse-coordinated intensive intervention program.

The main objective of cardiovascular disease prevention is to reduce morbidity and mortality by promoting a healthy lifestyle, reducing risk factors, and improving adherence to medications. Secondary prevention after an acute coronary syndrome has proved to be effective in reducing new cardiovascular events, but its limited use in everyday clinical practice suggests that there is considerable room for improvement. The short-term results of evidence-based studies of nurse-coordinated secondary prevention programs have been positive, but there is a lack of long-term outcome data.

Polyphenol intake and cardiovascular risk factors in a population with type 2 diabetes: The TOSCA.IT study.

Background: The role of polyphenol intake on cardiovascular risk factors is little explored, particularly in people with diabetes.

Aim: To evaluate the association between the intake of total polyphenols and polyphenol classes with the major cardiovascular risk factors in a population with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: Dietary habits were investigated in 2573 males and females participants of the TOSCA.

Bioavailability and metabolism of phenolic compounds from wholegrain wheat and aleurone-rich wheat bread.

Scope: This work aimed at investigating absorption, metabolism, and bioavailability of phenolic compounds after consumption of wholegrain bread or bread enriched with an aleurone fraction.

Methods And Results: Two commercially available breads were consumed by 15 participants on three occasions and matched for either the amount of ferulic acid in the bread or the amount of bread consumed. Urine was collected for 48 h from all the volunteers for phenolic metabolite quantification.

Road Running After Gastric Bypass for Morbid Obesity: Rationale and Results of a New Protocol.

Background: In recent years, the pandemic explosion of obesity has led to the definition of a pre-eminent therapeutic role for bariatric surgery, confining physical activity to a success parameter of surgery rather than a primary prevention measure. The aim of this study is to evaluate the role for aerobic physical activity (road running) in strengthening the metabolic and psychosocial effects of bariatric surgery.

Methods: Ten patients who underwent gastric bypass for morbid obesity were submitted to an intensive program of road running training, aimed at completing a 10.

Relationship between vitamin D and inflammatory markers in older individuals.

In older persons, vitamin D insufficiency and a subclinical chronic inflammatory status frequently coexist. Vitamin D has immune-modulatory and in vitro anti-inflammatory properties. However, there is inconclusive evidence about the anti-inflammatory role of vitamin D in older subjects.

DHEA and cognitive function in the elderly.

The adrenal prohormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulphate conjugate (DHEAS) steadily decrease with age by 10% per decade reaching a nadir after the age of 80. Both DHEA and DHEAS (DHEA/S) exert many biological activities in different tissues and organs. In particular, DHEA and DHEAS are produced de novo in the brain, hence their classification as neurosteroids.

The Interplay between Magnesium and Testosterone in Modulating Physical Function in Men.

The role of nutritional status as key factor of successful aging is very well recognized. Among the different mechanisms by which nutrients may exert their beneficial effects is the modulation of the hormonal anabolic milieu, which is significantly reduced with aging. Undernutrition and anabolic hormonal deficiency frequently coexist in older individuals determining an increased risk of mobility impairment and other adverse outcomes.

Temperament and one-year outcome of gastric bypass for severe obesity.

Background: The role of temperament traits in shaping the outcome of gastric bypass for severe obesity has not been established yet. This study evaluated whether temperament traits influence weight loss 1 year after gastric bypass, controlling for the potential confounding effect of Axis I and II disorders.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with severe obesity (body mass index = 46.

IGF-1, the cross road of the nutritional, inflammatory and hormonal pathways to frailty.

The decline in functional capacity is a heterogeneous phenomenon in the elderly. An accelerated ageing determines a frail status. It results in an increased vulnerability to stressors for decreased physiological reserves.

Stress hormones, sleep deprivation and cognition in older adults.

Cognition can be deteriorated in older persons because of several potential mechanisms including the hormonal changes occurring with age. Stress events cause modification in hormonal balance with acute and chronic changes such as increase in cortisol and thyroid hormones, and simultaneous alterations in dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, testosterone and insulin like growth factor-1 levels. The ability to cope with stress and regain previous healthy status, also called resiliency, is particularly impaired in older persons Thus, stressful conditions and hormonal dysregulation might concur to the onset of cognitive impairment in this population.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 bioactivity plays a prosurvival role in older participants.

The aim of this study was to address the intriguing issue of the role of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 system in longevity looking at the role of different components of IGF system. Vital status was ascertained in 1,197 men and women aged greater than or equal to 65 years from the InCHIANTI study. Hormonal levels were categorized into quartiles, and ratio of IGF-1 to IGF-binding protein (IGFBP)-1 was calculated.

Sulfonylurea-responsive neonatal diabetes mellitus diagnosed through molecular genetics in two children and in one adult after a long period of insulin treatment.

A permanent neonatal diabetes mellitus has finally been diagnosed through molecular genetics in two children and one adult after 9 to 35 years of uninterrupted insulin treatment. These patients developed diabetes before 6 months of age and were autoantibody negative. In one boy, a mutation in the KCNJ11 gene was identified at 9 years of age.

SHBG, sex hormones, and inflammatory markers in older women.

Context: In premenopausal and older women, high testosterone and estradiol (E2) and low SHBG levels are associated with insulin resistance and diabetes, conditions characterized by low-grade inflammation.

Objective: The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between SHBG, total testosterone, total E2, and inflammatory markers in older women.

Design And Patients: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of 433 women at least 65 yr old from the InCHIANTI Study, Italy, who were not on hormone replacement therapy or recently hospitalized and who had complete data on SHBG, testosterone, E2, C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6r), and TNF-α.

Gonadal status and physical performance in older men.

Objective: To test the relationship between gonadal status and objective measures and determinants of physical performance in older men and their determinants.

Methods: The study included 455 ≥ 65 year older men of InCHIANTI study, Italy, with complete data on testosterone levels, hand grip strength, cross-sectional muscle area (CSMA), short physical performance battery (SPPB). Linear models were used to test the relationship between gonadal status and determinants of physical performance.

Update on new therapeutic options for the somatopause.

During the last decade, a significant body of evidence has accumulated, indicating that the declining activity of the GH-IGF-I axis with aging might play a role in the development of frailty and in several pathological conditions commonly seen during aging, such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline. GH therapy has become widely popular as antiaging therapy in order to counteract the age-related decline in muscle mass and strength and the increase in fat mass. However there are only few proven beneficial effects of GH therapy in healthy elderly subjects and its use remains highly controversial in the scientific community.

Vitamin D in older population: new roles for this 'classic actor'?

Vitamin D is a group of lipophilic hormones with pleiotropic actions. It has been traditionally related to bone metabolism, although several studies in the last decade have suggested its role in muscle strength and falls, cardiovascular and neurological diseases, insulin-resistance and diabetes, malignancies, autoimmune diseases and infections. Vitamin D appears to be a hormone with several actions and is fundamental for many biological systems including bone, skeletal muscle, brain and heart.

Association of plasma selenium concentrations with total IGF-1 among older community-dwelling adults: the InCHIANTI study.

Background & Aims: Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) stimulates cell proliferation and inhibits cell apoptosis. Recent studies underline its importance as anabolic hormone and nutritional marker in older individuals. IGF-1 synthesis and bioactivity are modulated by nutritional factors including selenium intake.

Personality and attrition from behavioral weight-loss treatment for obesity.

Objective: Some personality features, as measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), have recently been found to be related to successful weight outcome after both behavioral and surgical therapies for obesity. However, personality features could possibly influence attendance in obesity treatments as well. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore whether personality variables assessed by the TCI predict attrition from a behavioral weight-loss program for obesity.

Changes in body image disturbance in morbidly obese patients 1 year after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.

Background: The effectiveness of post-surgical weight loss in improving body image disturbance (BID) in morbidly obese patients is still unclear. Providing multidimensional measures of BID and controlling for the effect of co-morbid eating psychopathology may help to clarify this issue. This preliminary study explores whether 1) BID improves 1 year after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), and whether 2) such improvement is related to post-surgical BMI and/or eating disorder reduction.

Psychopathological predictors of compliance and outcome in weight-loss obesity treatment.

Background: To detect pre-treatment psychopathological predictors of compliance and outcome in a behavioural weight-loss program for obesity.

Methods: 68 consecutive obese outpatients were evaluated on a wide range of psychopathological variables before entering a behavioural weight reduction program. Baseline assessment included detection of psychiatric (Axis I) and personality (Axis II) disorders, anxiety and depression levels, temperament and character patterns, alexithymia, and eating attitudes.